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Go Green and Save Money

Shaun reports on how easy and cost effective it can be to switch to green energy:

I’m already a low energy user because I have an efficient combination boiler, energy saving light bulbs and switch things off when not in use.However, the electricityI use most likely comes from polluting fossil fuels or nuclear power.

As I’m not happy with these methods of generating electricity, I recently produced a spreadsheet to work out the costs of the different energy suppliers and actually discovered that green energy companies are in fact very competitively priced and in some cases cheaper.

As a result of my comparisons, I have switched my gas and electricity from British Gas to RSPB Green Energy. It’s really very simple—you just give them a ring, tell them which company currently supplies your energy, and give them your bank details. They do the rest such as cancelling your old contract.

So how much does it cost? By switching to RSPB my electricity for a full year will be £9.97 cheaper.My gas bill will reduce by £13.90 a year (RSPB gas is cheaper in winter when I’m paying a standing charge and lower unit prices, but slightly more expensive than British Gas in the summer when the standing change makes it more expensive due to very few units of gas being used). Combining these figures, I will make a saving with RSPB energy of £23.87 a year but I now forego the dual-fuel discount of £13.32 which makes RSPB energy £10.55 per year cheaper.

Also, RSPB get a £20 lump sum on joining and a further £10 each year whilst I’m still using RSPB energy. This money is used to purchase and manage more nature reserves.

I’m sure most people would agree that saving money, helping to fund RSPB’s workand using wind, hydro and landfill derived energy is a win win win solution.

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